Alon Shaya’s first cookbook tells the chef’s life story
through the recipes he loves. Photo by Rush Jagoe.
Alon Shaya describes Israeli cuisine as a gumbo, a melding of many food cultures. His first cookbook, “Shaya,” is full of recipes and tastes from his New Orleans restaurant, but it’s also a journey through his life - as a boy in Israel to an immigrant in Pennsylvania, a chef in Italy to a phenom in Louisiana. And what has been his constant? The food.